Systems and methods for enhanced organizational transparency using a credit chain

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for enhanced organizational transparency using a linked activity chain in a ledger are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method may include (1) a back end for an organization comprising at least one computer processor receiving a first communication from a first entity comprising a first customer interaction with the first entity; (2) the back end writing the first communication to a ledger for the organization as a first block in a linked activity chain; (3) the back end receiving a second communication from a second entity comprising a second customer second activity with the second entity; (4) the back end writing the second communication to the ledger for the organization as a second block in the linked activity chain; (5) the back end calculating a summary score for the customer based on the blocks in the linked activity chain.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods forenhanced organizational transparency using a credit chain.

2. Description of the Related Art

Due to lag and other issues, business entities—even those within thesame organization—may not have the most up-to-date information regardingthe organization's customer. Important decisions, such as whether toissue credit to the customer, the amount of credit to issue to acustomer, whether an account has been compromised, the current qualityof a loan or pool of loans, etc. may not be based on the most up-to-datecustomer information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods for enhanced organizational transparency using alinked activity chain in a ledger are disclosed. In one embodiment, amethod may include (1) a back end for an organization comprising atleast one computer processor receiving a first communication from afirst entity comprising a first customer interaction with the firstentity; (2) the back end writing the first communication to a ledger forthe organization as a first block in a linked activity chain; (3) theback end receiving a second communication from a second entitycomprising a second customer second activity with the second entity; (4)the back end writing the second communication to the ledger for theorganization as a second block in the linked activity chain; (5) theback end calculating a summary score for the customer based on theblocks in the linked activity chain.

In one embodiment, at least one of the first activity and the secondactivity may be a financial activity conducted by the customer. Thefinancial activity may be a financial transaction, a mortgage, etc.

In one embodiment, at least one of the first activity and the secondactivity may indicate a fraudulent activity.

In one embodiment, at least one of the first entity and the secondentity is internal to the organization.

In another embodiment, at least one of the first entity and the secondentity is external to the organization.

In one embodiment, the method may further include the back endreceiving, from a requesting entity, a request for the summary score;and the back end communicating, to the requesting entity, the summaryscore.

In one embodiment, the requesting entity may be one of the first entityor the second entity.

In one embodiment, the first communication may include a smart contract.

In one embodiment, the ledger may be specific to a customer. In anotherembodiment, the ledger may include activities for a plurality ofcustomers.

In one embodiment, the linked activity chain may be a blockchain.

In one embodiment, the first block and the second block may eachcomprise a hash of a previous block in the activity chain.

Systems and methods for inter-linking dependent processes acrossmultiple parties using smart contracts are disclosed. In one embodiment,a method may include (1) a back end for a lending financial institutionreceiving, from a customer, an identification of a collateral for a loanto purchase the collateral and an identification of an insurer thatinsures the collateral; (2) at least one computer processor for thelending financial institution generating a smart contract that directsthe back end to cause the insurer to pay the financial institution aloan balance for the collateral in response to an insurance claim basedon a value for the collateral falling below a predetermined amount; (3)the at least one computer processor for the lending financialinstitution writing the smart contract to a ledger as a first block in alinked transaction chain; (4) the insurer writing an insurance claim tothe ledger as a second block in the linked transaction chain indicatingthat the value for the collateral fell below a predetermined amount; and(5) a back end automatically executing the smart contract, whereby theinsurer pays the loan balance to the lending financial institution andany balance to the customer.

In one embodiment, the insurance claim may be associated with a lost,stolen, or damaged vehicle. In another embodiment, the insurance claimmay be associated with real estate.

In one embodiment, the method may further include the back endleveraging a data oracle to list the collateral for auction.

According to another embodiment, a method for inter-linking dependentprocesses across multiple parties using smart contracts may include (1)a back end for a lending financial institution receiving, from acustomer, an identification of a vehicle being purchased with a loan andan identification of an insurer that insures the vehicle; (2) at leastone computer processor for the lending financial institution generatinga smart contract that directs the back end to restrict access to thevehicle in response to the vehicle not being covered by insurance; (3)the at least one computer processor for the lending financialinstitution writing the smart contract to a ledger as a first block in alinked transaction chain; (4) the insurer writing an notice to theledger that the vehicle is no longer insured; and (5) a back endautomatically executing the smart contract, whereby the back end causesa signal that disables the vehicle over a network.

In one embodiment, the method may further comprise the back endleveraging a data oracle to repossess the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the objectsand advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingdescriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 depicts a system for enhanced organizational transparency using acredit chain according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 depicts a method for enhanced organizational transparency using acredit chain according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary ledger according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a system for enhanced organizational transparency using acredit chain according to one embodiment according to anotherembodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a method for enhanced organizational transparency using acredit chain according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts a system for using a vehicle insurance smart contract isdisclosed according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7 depicts a method for using a vehicle insurance smart contract isdisclosed according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Several embodiments of the present invention and their advantages may beunderstood by referring to FIGS. 1-7.

Embodiments are directed to enhanced organizational transparency using acredit chain on a ledger.

Ledgers, such as a Blockchain-based ledger, may be used to providetransparency to all stakeholders that may be involved in decisionsinvolving an individual or entity. It may further be used to assess afinancial product, such as the quality of mortgages that may make up thefinancial product.

In one embodiment, in a credit-based environment, the ledger may providetransparency to the entity that may default, as well as the otherentities that may have exposure to that entity. For a consumer, theledger may represent the consumer's credit exposure. Household income,deposit accounts, etc. may improve the consumer's credit exposure whileopening or using credit would weaken (e.g., increase exposures) thatposition. The collective improvements and exposures contribute to theconsumer's “credit chain.”

Other activities, such as fraud on an account, identify theft, etc. mayalso impact the credit chain. In one embodiment, using “smartcontracts,” events (like identity theft) could have an immediate effecton the consumer's exposure and all accounts in the credit chain. Theactivity could impact a single account, a subset of accounts, or allaccounts, depending on the specific details of the activity.

In another embodiment, activities such as bankruptcy, collectionactivity, etc. may be written to the ledger. These activities may notonly impact the customer's summary score, but, for example, may alsoprovide an alert to any party that may have extended credit to thecustomer, may prevent additional credit from being offered to thecustomer, etc.

In one embodiment, the ledger may be extended to any lender orinstitution (internal and external) that could add improvements andexposures to the consumer's credit chain. Thus, the consumer's completecredit chain may be assessed. In one embodiment, third parties (e.g.,institutions and jurisdictions (e.g. bankruptcy court, taxjurisdictions, etc.)) may access the credit chain.

Embodiments may provide certain benefits, including a coordinated,simultaneous, and consistent response to an event involving a consumer(e.g., a response to a bankruptcy or fraud event, a lien on an asset,credit exposure limit or credit freeze), a consistent view to allparticipants to the credit exposure and the credit behavior of aconsumer, availability of changes to a consumer's credit chain to theentities within the organization, etc.

In another embodiment, the leger may be used to validate the source ofwealth and consistency in reporting to different organizations(government and private). For example, an asset reported to improve thecredit exposure position may be available for other entities to validateor provide that asset's value and to establish or validate an assessmentof a customer's overall financial position (e.g., the customer'seligibility for student loans, financial aid, tax liability, etc.).

In still another embodiment, as “collateral,” improvements, or exposureschange, the price of financial products (e.g., loans, credit cards,etc.) may fluctuate to reflect the strength of the customer's financialposition. For example, if the customer has a deposit account with$100,000 when the loan is issued, and the balance drops to $10,000, therate the customer is paying on the outstanding balances may change toreflect the customer's changing credit position.

In another embodiment, the credit chain may be used to quantify thequality of a single loan, or a collections of loans (as in a securitizedpool of loans). The quality of each loan is supported by the creditexposure position of the customer(s) on the loan, and the credit qualityof each loan may be revised so that the quality of a loan or a pool ofloans changes to reflect the latest credit exposure position of eachcorresponding customer,

Example uses cases for the system and method include credit reporting,credit assessments and credit exposure limits, validating sources offunds to be used as collateral or to establish a measure of wealth,appraisals and valuations for assets or improvements, claims againstassets or the customer, liens, lien releases, assignment of debt, newcredit checks, identity theft, etc.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system for enhanced organizational transparencyusing a credit chain are disclosed according to one embodiment. In oneembodiment, system 100 may include an organization that may include aplurality of entities (e.g., entity 1 110 ₁, entity 2 110 ₂, . . .entity n 110 _(n). Each of the entities 110 may communicate with eachother directly or indirectly.

In one embodiment, one or more entity 110 may be part of the sameorganization and may be involved in some manner in a consumer's creditchain. For example, each entity 110 may submit improvements (e.g.,household income, deposit account, retirement accounts, etc.), exposures(e.g., mortgages, loans, credit card balances, etc.), and activities(e.g., account opening, fraudulent activity, lost or stolen creditcards, etc.).

In one embodiment, one or more entity 110 may be external to theorganization, or may receive data from an entity external to theorganization. For example, one entity 110 may be an external creditbureau. In another embodiment, one entity 110 may be within theorganization and receive data from an external credit bureau. As anotherexample, one entity 110 may receive be an unrelated financialinstitution with which the consumer has an account (e.g., a loan, adeposit account, a retirement account, etc.).

Other examples of entities 110 may include a holder fiduciary, or acounterparty to an asset such as pension, insurance, IRAs, estates,etc.; a jurisdiction with record of ownership to property such as land,buildings, businesses or entitlements; agencies with authority to carryout estate, tax, and bankruptcy laws, etc.

Other types of entities 110, including entities internal to theorganization and external to the organization, may be used as necessaryand/or desired.

Any one or more of entities 110 may submit transactions or be a party toa transaction by way of confirming the existence of an improvement,exposure or activity. For example, if a customer applies for a loan andidentifies a bank account or land as collateral, the “counterparty”could validate the existence of the asset. The transaction would not becommitted without the validation of the counterparty.

In one embodiment each entity 110 may submit improvements, exposures,and/or activities to back end 150 and counterparties may at theiroption, respond to the transaction (e.g., add to it, or respond in a waythat will commit the transaction).

In another embodiment, each entity 110 may submit improvements,exposures, and/or activities to back end 150. In one embodiment, eachsubmission may be in the form of a smart contract which may be fully orpartially self-executing and/or self-enforcing

In one embodiment, back end 150 may be hosted by one or more server. Inone embodiment, back end 150 may be hosted by an organization (e.g., thefinancial institution with which the consumer has an account), by athird party (e.g., a separate financial institution, a credit bureau,etc.) etc.

In one embodiment, back end 150 may write, or commit, the exposures,improvements, and/or activities to ledger 160, such as a Blockchainledger.

In one embodiment, one or more ledgers 160 may be provided. For example,one ledger may be provided for all of the organizations customers. Asanother example, each customer may have its own ledger.

In one embodiment, some or all of entities 110 may have access to ledger160 to view the committed improvements, exposures, and/or activities. Inanother embodiment, access to ledger 160 may be restricted to certainentities 110 as necessary and/or desired. In one embodiment, entitiesthat are outside of the organization involved in, for example, a creditdecision for the organization, such as entities that are external to theorganization, entities that are report-only entities, etc. may not beable to access ledger 160.

As another example, if entity 1 110 ₁ provides an account balance,entity 1 110 ₁ may be able to see the account details. Other entities(e.g., entity 2 110 ₂, entity 3 110 ₂, however, may only able to see theaccount total. Thus, each entity 110 may have access to a summary scoreindicative of the total debt, incomer or other, without necessarilyhaving access to account details.

In one embodiment, back end 150 may provide one or more notifications toone or more entity 110 upon the receipt of submissions. In oneembodiment, only certain submissions (e.g., fraudulent activity) maytrigger a notification.

In one embodiment, if the improvements, exposures, and/or activities wassubmitted as a smart contract, back end 150 may execute the smartcontract.

In one embodiment, back end 150 may create a summary score for theconsumer based on the submissions. In one embodiment, back end 150 mayassess the improvements, exposures, and/or activities, and may generatea score that may be used in decisioning the consumer, for example, foradditional products, for the maximum amount of credit that may beextended to the consumer, etc.

In one embodiment, transparency to stakeholders involved in anindividual (or entity's) credit, as well as the quality of loans thatmay make up a financial product may be provided. The transparency is aresult of the ability to see the customer's assets and liabilities thatare the basis for the customer's summary score, and because the recordof the customer's assets and liabilities may be continuously updated.The quality of the loans and/or financial product may be evaluated basedon this information.

Referring to FIG. 2, a method for enhanced organizational transparencyusing a credit chain is disclosed according to one embodiment. In step205, an entity (e.g., an entity of an organizational, an entity externalto the organization, an entity internal to the organization but incommunication with entity external to the organization, etc.) mayreceive an activity involving a consumer. In one embodiment, the entitymay be a sub-entity of an organization, an affiliate of an organization,etc.

In one embodiment, the entity may be external to the organization, suchas a credit bureau, an external financial institution, a social mediafeed, etc.

In one embodiment, the activity may be related to an improvement and/oran exposure, as discussed above. In one embodiment, the activity may bebased on an external entity score (e.g., a credit score).

Example activities may include the addition of a new customer,additional of credit limits and/or pre-approvals, credit requests and/orline increases, new deposit and investment accounts or balance updates,addition of collateral, line of credit balance changes, adding a paymentbehavior, collections activity, bankruptcy, fraud events, etc.

In step 210, the entity may communicate the activity to a back end. Inone embodiment, the activity may communicate with the back end by anysuitable communication network.

In one embodiment, the activity may be communicated as a smart contract.

In one embodiment, only activities about a certain threshold may becommunicated to the back end. For example, a deposit account balancechange may be required to be greater than a certain amount in order tocommunicate the balance change to the back end.

In step 215, the back end may write the activity to a ledger, such as aBlockchain-based ledger. In one embodiment, the activity may be writtenas a block in an activity chain.

In one embodiment, a separate ledger may be maintained for eachconsumer; in another embodiment, a plurality of ledgers, with eachledger being used with a plurality of consumers, may be provided; inanother embodiment, only one ledger may be provided.

In one embodiment, one or more entities may access the ledger, and mayquery the back end for a consumer's score o recent transactions in thecredit chain. In one embodiment, this may be part of the decisioningprocesses for increasing a credit amount, issuing a new financialinstrument, reevaluating the credit quality of an existing loan, etc.

Referring to FIG. 3, an example ledger is provided. In this example, theledger includes entries for multiple customers (e.g., ECI 11111111 and22222222).

In step 220, the back end may calculate a score for the consumer. In oneembodiment, the score may be based on the improvements, exposures, andother activities (e.g., credit scores from credit bureaus, etc.).

In step 225, the back end may communicate any notifications to one ormore of the entities as is necessary and/or desired. In one embodiment,certain activities, such as fraudulent activity, may trigger anotification. In one embodiment, the notification may cause thereceiving entity to take an action (e.g., close/suspend an account,increase fraud detection parameters, alert the consumer, notify theinvestors/stakeholders of a change in credit quality, etc.).

In one embodiment, the back end may communicate the consumer's score toone or more entity. In one embodiment, the back end may communicate thescore if a predetermined condition is met, such as the score changes bya predetermined percentage, represents a certain risk change for theconsumer, etc.

In one embodiment, if the improvements, exposures, and/or activities wassubmitted as a smart contract, the back end may execute the smartcontract.

In another embodiment, a distributed ledger system may be used, in whicheach entity maintains its own copy of the ledger. Referring to FIG. 4,system 400 may include entities 410 ₁-410 _(n). Entities 410 may besimilar entities to those described above.

In one embodiment, each entity 410 may maintain a copy of distributedledger 460. For example, entity 410 ₁ may maintain a copy of distributedledger 460 ₁. In one embodiment, each entity may further include backend 450 which may write to the respective distributed ledger 460.

In another embodiment, if an entity 410 does not maintain its own copyof the distributed ledger 460 (e.g., it is an external entity), thatentity may still communicate activities to the network, and one of moreof the entities 410 may write the activity to its distributed ledger460.

Referring to FIG. 5, a method for enhanced organizational transparencyusing a credit chain is disclosed according to one embodiment. In step405, an entity may receive an activity involving a consumer. This may besimilar to step 205, above.

In step 510, the entity write the activity to its copy of thedistributed ledger. In one embodiment, a back end for the entity maywrite the activity to the entity's copy of the distributed ledger.

In step 515, the entity may communicate the activity to the otherentities in the network that maintain copies of the distributed ledger.

In step 520, the other entities receive the activity and may write theactivity to their copy of the distributed ledger. In one embodiment,back ends for the other entities may write the activity to theirrespective copies of the distributed ledger.

In step 525, each entity may access their own copy of the ledger and maymake a decision based on the distributed ledger. In another embodiment,the back end for each entity may communicate any notifications to theentity as is necessary and/or desired.

In another embodiment, a leger system and/or smart contracts may be usedwith financial products (e.g., automobile loans) and insurance productsassociated with the collateral financed using those financial products.For example, an auto loan has an inherent dependency on the vehicleinsurance to reduce the risk exposure to the financial institution. Thisassociation, however, is often managed separately and may expose thefinancial institution to risk. For example, in the case of an accidentor lost vehicle, the financial institution may depend on the customerfor repayment of the financial liability. Though this liability may begenerally addressed by laws that enforce the contract/agreement betweenfinancial institution and the customer, the recovery may be an onerousprocess, and may still expose the financial institution to the risk ofdefault.

Thus, embodiments disclosed herein may automate the recovery of amortgage or other loan by associating the collateral with the insurancefor that collateral using a smart contract and/or a ledger. Inembodiments, the system and method may provide the lending financialinstitutions with an assurance that the loan amount will be repaiddirectly by the insurance company in case the collateral is lost,stolen, damaged to diminish its value below a certain threshold, etc.

In one embodiment, the smart contract may be submitted to a ledger thatmay be hosted by the lending financial institution, the insurancecompany, a third party, a government (e.g., a state government), etc.

Although this disclosure is made in the context of automobile loans, itshould be recognized that it has applicability with any loan or line ofcredit that may be secured with collateral that is subject to insurance,such as houses, boats, recreational vehicles, mortgages, etc.

In one embodiment, when a customer applies for a loan, such as an autoloan, the lending financial institution may provide the loan with anassociated smart contract. Thus, if the collateral is stolen orotherwise damaged (e.g., repair cost at or above its actual cash value,an insurance “total loss,” damaged to diminish its value below a certainthreshold, etc.), the smart contract may direct that the insurancecompany to directly pay the lending financial institution theoutstanding loan amount, or the legally-required amount. Any remainingbalance may be paid to the customer.

In one embodiment, the customer may submit a claim to the insurancecompany, and the insurance company may submit the claim to a ledger.This may trigger the execution of the smart contract by the back end, bythe ledger, etc.

In one embodiment, a smart contract may be triggered by sending thetransaction directly to the smart contract address. For example, theinsurance company may trigger the smart contract after receiving theclaim request, or the claim request process itself may trigger the smartcontract directly.

In one embodiment, a plurality of smart contracts may interact with oneanother. For example, a first smart contract may receive the claimrequest, analyze the claim request, and based on the outcome, mayforward the claim request to a second smart contract. The second smartcontract may notify the lending financial institution and of the statusof the request. It may also transfer the funds directly to the lendingfinancial institution if a threshold is breached.

The lending financial institution may approve the disbursement throughthe smart contract, which may require approval from the insurancecompany to agree to directly settle the outstanding loan in the event ofa vehicle loss. In one embodiment, this may be achieved through amulti-signature verification process, which may require that thetransaction is approved by both the insurance company and the lendingfinancial institution. In another embodiment, the insurance company maysend a notification to the lending financial institution and wait foracknowledgement using, for example, a callback transaction from lendingfinancial institution to the insurance company.

In one embodiment, if the vehicle insurance is terminated or suspended,the smart contract may foreclose the loan, increase the interest rate,or lock the vehicle so that the customer cannot use the vehicle. Thismay be done remotely for “connected” vehicles. Once the insurancecoverage is resumed, the customer may then access the vehicle again.

In one embodiment, the insurance company may send a notification to theback end or ledger reflecting the change in insurance status, which maylead to the execution of the smart contract.

Referring to FIG. 6, a system for using a vehicle insurance smartcontract is disclosed according to one embodiment. System 600 mayinclude a customer that may be shopping for vehicle 625 from dealer 620.Dealer 620 may be traditional brick-and-mortar dealer; in anotherembodiment, it may be an on-line seller.

As noted above, although this disclosure is made in the context ofautomobile loans, it should be recognized that it has applicability withany loan or line of credit that may be secured with collateral that issubject to insurance.

Dealer may communicate with financial institution 640 and/or insurancecompany 650. Similarly, financial institution 640 may communicate withinsurance company 650. Such communications may use any suitablecommunication network, including the Internet, cellular, WiFi,satellite, POTS, etc. networks.

In one embodiment, financial institution 640 and/or insurance company650 may communicate with back end 670, which may communicate with ledger680, which may be a ledger as discussed above. In one embodiment,financial institution 640 and/or insurance company 650 may communicatedirectly with ledger.

In one embodiment, financial institution 640 and/or insurance company650 may communicate with vehicle 625. For example, if vehicle 625 is aconnected vehicle (e.g., an “Internet of Things” enabled vehicle) thatprovides for remote locking, remote disabling, etc., financialinstitution 640 and/or insurance company 650 may communicate withvehicle 625 to disable and/or lock vehicle if insurance coverage onvehicle 625 lapses.

Referring to FIG. 6, a method for using a vehicle insurance smartcontract is disclosed according to one embodiment. In step 605, acustomer may select a vehicle to lease or purchase, and may decide tofinance the vehicle.

In step 610, the customer may identify an insurance company to insurethe vehicle.

In step 615, the customer may select a lending financial institution tofinance the vehicle. In one embodiment, the dealer and/or insurancecompany may assist in identifying the lending financial institution. Inanother embodiment, the customer may select the lending financialinstitution without assistance from the dealer.

In step 620, the customer may provide vehicle details and the selectedlending financial institution information to the insurance company. Inone embodiment, the customer may provide a VIN or other vehicleidentifier to the insurance company.

In step 625, the dealer may also communicate an insurance request to theinsurance company and/or a loan request to the selected lendingfinancial institution. In one embodiment, if the customer is handlingthe financing of the vehicle, the customer may submit the request to thelending financial institution.

In step 630, the lending financial institution may generate a smartcontract. In one embodiment, the smart contract may specify that lendingfinancial institution is to be paid directly from any insurance recoveryfor a stolen, lost, or damaged to diminish its value below a certainthreshold during the period of the loan.

In one embodiment, the smart contract may require that the lendingfinancial institution is notified of all insurance claims made by thecustomer. This may permit the lending financial institution to determinethe driving behavior of the customer. If there are frequent claims, thelending financial institution may increase the interest rate for theloan, as the resale value of the vehicle may be diminished, therebyincreasing the financial institution's risk exposure.

In step 635, the lending financial institution may communicate the smartcontract to the insurance company, and, in step 640, the insurancecompany may accept the smart contract.

In step 645, the insurance company and/or the lending financialinstitution may submit the smart contract to the ledger. In oneembodiment, the lending financial institution may submit the smartcontract to the ledger.

In one embodiment, the lending financial institution may submit thesmart contract to the ledger, and then the insurance company may agreeto the smart contract by submitting its approval for the smart contractto the ledger.

In one embodiment, the lending financial institution and the insurancecompany may agree to the smart contract before it is written to theledger. In another embodiment, the smart contract may be activated onceit is accepted by the insurance company. If the insurance company doesnot accept the smart contract, it may then become inactive,self-destruct, etc.

In step 650, an event in which the vehicle value diminishes occurs. Inone embodiment, this may involve the vehicle being lost, stolen, ordamaged to a point where its value is below a certain threshold.

In step 655, the event is submitted to the ledger. In on embodiment, theinsurance company may submit the event as part of a claim made by thecustomer.

In step 660, the submission to the ledger may cause the smart contractto execute according to its terms. In one embodiment, the insurancecompany may pay the lending financial institution the loan balancedirectly, and any remaining funds may be paid to the customer.

In one embodiment, if the insurance lapses, is suspended, expires, etc.,the smart contract may inform the customer. In one embodiment, thecustomer may be provided with options, such as renewing the insurancewithin a certain time period, paying the balance of the loan, or havingthe car locked or repossessed.

In one embodiment, if the customer renews or gets new insurance, theexisting smart contract may generate new smart contract with the newinsurance information/company and self-destruct. If the customer doesnot renew the insurance within the given timeframe, the smart contractmay execute to initiate recovery of the vehicle. In one embodiment, thelending financial institution may lock a “connected vehicle” andinitiate repossession.

The smart contact may also initiate a transaction with a repossessioncompany. This transaction may be submitted to the same or a differentledger, or by leveraging a data oracle. For example, the smart contractmay leverage the data oracle to fetch or transfer the data to entitiesoutside the ledger.

In one embodiment, once the vehicle is repossessed, the smart contractmay offer the vehicle for sale using, for example, an online autoauction through data oracles. Based on the auction sale, the smartcontract may transfer the outstanding loan amount to the lendingfinancial institution and any remaining balance may be provided to thecustomer.

Embodiments may provide some, or all, of the following. The riskexposure to the lending financial institutions in case vehicle is lostor damaged may be reduced. By collecting the data for even small claimsettlements, lending financial institutions may adjust the interest ratefor the loan based on the customer's driving history. The lendingfinancial institutions may use the information gained from the customerto cross-sell other products (e.g., investment options that can beliquidated immediately in case of medical emergency, finding a good dealon a new car, etc.). The operation cost for the loans may be reduced asthe default rate will be lower. Customers may benefit with lowerinterest rate on loans due to lower risk of default. Embodiments mayprovide instant repayment of the loan in case of insurance settlementwithout any human intervention.

Although several embodiments have been disclosed, it should berecognized that these embodiments are not exclusive to each other.

Hereinafter, general aspects of implementation of the systems andmethods of the invention will be described.

The system of the invention or portions of the system of the inventionmay be in the form of a “processing machine,” such as a general purposecomputer, for example. As used herein, the term “processing machine” isto be understood to include at least one processor that uses at leastone memory. The at least one memory stores a set of instructions. Theinstructions may be either permanently or temporarily stored in thememory or memories of the processing machine. The processor executes theinstructions that are stored in the memory or memories in order toprocess data. The set of instructions may include various instructionsthat perform a particular task or tasks, such as those tasks describedabove. Such a set of instructions for performing a particular task maybe characterized as a program, software program, or simply software.

In one embodiment, the processing machine may be a specializedprocessor.

As noted above, the processing machine executes the instructions thatare stored in the memory or memories to process data. This processing ofdata may be in response to commands by a user or users of the processingmachine, in response to previous processing, in response to a request byanother processing machine and/or any other input, for example.

As noted above, the processing machine used to implement the inventionmay be a general purpose computer. However, the processing machinedescribed above may also utilize any of a wide variety of othertechnologies including a special purpose computer, a computer systemincluding, for example, a microcomputer, mini-computer or mainframe, aprogrammed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integratedcircuit element, a CSIC (Customer Specific Integrated Circuit) or ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or other integrated circuit, alogic circuit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic devicesuch as a FPGA, PLD, PLA or PAL, or any other device or arrangement ofdevices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes ofthe invention.

The processing machine used to implement the invention may utilize asuitable operating system. Thus, embodiments of the invention mayinclude a processing machine running the iOS operating system, the OS Xoperating system, the Android operating system, the Microsoft Windows™operating systems, the Unix operating system, the Linux operatingsystem, the Xenix operating system, the IBM AIX™ operating system, theHewlett-Packard UX™ operating system, the Novell Netware™ operatingsystem, the Sun Microsystems Solaris™ operating system, the OS/2™operating system, the BeOS™ operating system, the Macintosh operatingsystem, the Apache operating system, an OpenStep™ operating system oranother operating system or platform.

It is appreciated that in order to practice the method of the inventionas described above, it is not necessary that the processors and/or thememories of the processing machine be physically located in the samegeographical place. That is, each of the processors and the memoriesused by the processing machine may be located in geographically distinctlocations and connected so as to communicate in any suitable manner.Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processor and/or thememory may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment.Accordingly, it is not necessary that the processor be one single pieceof equipment in one location and that the memory be another single pieceof equipment in another location. That is, it is contemplated that theprocessor may be two pieces of equipment in two different physicallocations. The two distinct pieces of equipment may be connected in anysuitable manner. Additionally, the memory may include two or moreportions of memory in two or more physical locations.

To explain further, processing, as described above, is performed byvarious components and various memories. However, it is appreciated thatthe processing performed by two distinct components as described abovemay, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, beperformed by a single component. Further, the processing performed byone distinct component as described above may be performed by twodistinct components. In a similar manner, the memory storage performedby two distinct memory portions as described above may, in accordancewith a further embodiment of the invention, be performed by a singlememory portion. Further, the memory storage performed by one distinctmemory portion as described above may be performed by two memoryportions.

Further, various technologies may be used to provide communicationbetween the various processors and/or memories, as well as to allow theprocessors and/or the memories of the invention to communicate with anyother entity; i.e., so as to obtain further instructions or to accessand use remote memory stores, for example. Such technologies used toprovide such communication might include a network, the Internet,Intranet, Extranet, LAN, an Ethernet, wireless communication via celltower or satellite, or any client server system that providescommunication, for example. Such communications technologies may use anysuitable protocol such as TCP/IP, UDP, OSI, Bluetooth LE, ZigBee, NFC,6LowPan, Z-wave, etc.

As described above, a set of instructions may be used in the processingof the invention. The set of instructions may be in the form of aprogram or software. The software may be in the form of system softwareor application software, for example. The software might also be in theform of a collection of separate programs, a program module within alarger program, or a portion of a program module, for example. Thesoftware used might also include modular programming in the form ofobject oriented programming. The software tells the processing machinewhat to do with the data being processed.

Further, it is appreciated that the instructions or set of instructionsused in the implementation and operation of the invention may be in asuitable form such that the processing machine may read theinstructions. For example, the instructions that form a program may bein the form of a suitable programming language, which is converted tomachine language or object code to allow the processor or processors toread the instructions. That is, written lines of programming code orsource code, in a particular programming language, are converted tomachine language using a compiler, assembler or interpreter. The machinelanguage is binary coded machine instructions that are specific to aparticular type of processing machine, i.e., to a particular type ofcomputer, for example. The computer understands the machine language.

Any suitable programming language may be used in accordance with thevarious embodiments of the invention. Illustratively, the programminglanguage used may include assembly language, Ada, APL, Basic, C, C++,COBOL, dBase, Forth, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, Prolog, REXX,Visual Basic, and/or JavaScript, for example. Further, it is notnecessary that a single type of instruction or single programminglanguage be utilized in conjunction with the operation of the system andmethod of the invention. Rather, any number of different programminglanguages may be utilized as is necessary and/or desirable.

Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of the inventionmay utilize any compression or encryption technique or algorithm, as maybe desired. An encryption module might be used to encrypt data. Further,files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module,for example.

As described above, the invention may illustratively be embodied in theform of a processing machine, including a computer or computer system,for example, that includes at least one memory. It is to be appreciatedthat the set of instructions, i.e., the software for example, thatenables the computer operating system to perform the operationsdescribed above may be contained on any of a wide variety of media ormedium, as desired. Further, the data that is processed by the set ofinstructions might also be contained on any of a wide variety of mediaor medium. That is, the particular medium, i.e., the memory in theprocessing machine, utilized to hold the set of instructions and/or thedata used in the invention may take on any of a variety of physicalforms or transmissions, for example. Illustratively, the medium may bein the form of paper, paper transparencies, a compact disk, a DVD, anintegrated circuit, a hard disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, amagnetic tape, a RAM, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, a wire, a cable, a fiber,a communications channel, a satellite transmission, a memory card, a SIMcard, or other remote transmission, as well as any other medium orsource of data that may be read by the processors of the invention.

Further, the memory or memories used in the processing machine thatimplements the invention may be in any of a wide variety of forms toallow the memory to hold instructions, data, or other information, as isdesired. Thus, the memory might be in the form of a database to holddata. The database might use any desired arrangement of files such as aflat file arrangement or a relational database arrangement, for example.

In the system and method of the invention, a variety of “userinterfaces” may be utilized to allow a user to interface with theprocessing machine or machines that are used to implement the invention.As used herein, a user interface includes any hardware, software, orcombination of hardware and software used by the processing machine thatallows a user to interact with the processing machine. A user interfacemay be in the form of a dialogue screen for example. A user interfacemay also include any of a mouse, touch screen, keyboard, keypad, voicereader, voice recognizer, dialogue screen, menu box, list, checkbox,toggle switch, a pushbutton or any other device that allows a user toreceive information regarding the operation of the processing machine asit processes a set of instructions and/or provides the processingmachine with information. Accordingly, the user interface is any devicethat provides communication between a user and a processing machine. Theinformation provided by the user to the processing machine through theuser interface may be in the form of a command, a selection of data, orsome other input, for example.

As discussed above, a user interface is utilized by the processingmachine that performs a set of instructions such that the processingmachine processes data for a user. The user interface is typically usedby the processing machine for interacting with a user either to conveyinformation or receive information from the user. However, it should beappreciated that in accordance with some embodiments of the system andmethod of the invention, it is not necessary that a human user actuallyinteract with a user interface used by the processing machine of theinvention. Rather, it is also contemplated that the user interface ofthe invention might interact, i.e., convey and receive information, withanother processing machine, rather than a human user. Accordingly, theother processing machine might be characterized as a user. Further, itis contemplated that a user interface utilized in the system and methodof the invention may interact partially with another processing machineor processing machines, while also interacting partially with a humanuser.

It will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art thatthe present invention is susceptible to broad utility and application.Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other thanthose herein described, as well as many variations, modifications andequivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggestedby the present invention and foregoing description thereof, withoutdeparting from the substance or scope of the invention.

Accordingly, while the present invention has been described here indetail in relation to its exemplary embodiments, it is to be understoodthat this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the presentinvention and is made to provide an enabling disclosure of theinvention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure is not intended to beconstrued or to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude anyother such embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications orequivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for enhanced organizational transparencyusing a linked activity chain in a ledger, comprising: a back end for anorganization comprising at least one computer processor receiving afirst communication from a first entity comprising a first customerinteraction with the first entity; the back end writing the firstcommunication to a ledger for the organization as a first block in alinked activity chain; the back end receiving a second communicationfrom a second entity comprising a second customer second activity withthe second entity; the back end writing the second communication to theledger for the organization as a second block in the linked activitychain; and the back end calculating a summary score for the customerbased on the blocks in the linked activity chain.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein at least one of the first activity and the second activity isa financial activity conducted by the customer.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the financial activity comprises a financial transaction. 4.The method of claim 2, wherein the financial activity is a mortgage. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first activity andthe second activity indicates a fraudulent activity.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the first entity and the second entityis internal to the organization.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the first entity and the second entity is external to theorganization.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the back endreceiving, from a requesting entity, a request for the summary score;and the back end communicating, to the requesting entity, the summaryscore.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the requesting entity is one ofthe first entity or the second entity.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the first communication comprises a smart contract.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the ledger is specific to a customer.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the ledger comprises activities for aplurality of customers.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the linkedactivity chain is a blockchain.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thefirst block and the second block each comprise a hash of a previousblock in the activity chain.
 15. A method for inter-linking dependentprocesses across multiple parties using smart contracts, comprising: aback end for a lending financial institution receiving, from a customer,an identification of a collateral for a loan to purchase the collateraland an identification of an insurer that insures the collateral; atleast one computer processor for the lending financial institutiongenerating a smart contract that directs the back end to cause theinsurer to pay the financial institution a loan balance for thecollateral in response to an insurance claim based on a value for thecollateral falling below a predetermined amount; the at least onecomputer processor for the lending financial institution writing thesmart contract to a ledger as a first block in a linked transactionchain; the insurer writing an insurance claim to the ledger as a secondblock in the linked transaction chain indicating that the value for thecollateral fell below a predetermined amount; and a back endautomatically executing the smart contract, whereby the insurer pays theloan balance to the lending financial institution and any balance to thecustomer.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the insurance claim isassociated with a lost, stolen, or damaged vehicle.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the insurance claim is associated with real estate.18. The method of claim 15, further comprising: the back end leveraginga data oracle to list the collateral for auction.
 19. A method forinter-linking dependent processes across multiple parties using smartcontracts, comprising: a back end for a lending financial institutionreceiving, from a customer, an identification of a vehicle beingpurchased with a loan and an identification of an insurer that insuresthe vehicle; at least one computer processor for the lending financialinstitution generating a smart contract that directs the back end torestrict access to the vehicle in response to the vehicle not beingcovered by insurance; the at least one computer processor for thelending financial institution writing the smart contract to a ledger asa first block in a linked transaction chain; the insurer writing annotice to the ledger that the vehicle is no longer insured; and a backend automatically executing the smart contract, whereby the back endcauses a signal that disables the vehicle over a network.
 20. The methodof claim 19, further comprising: the back end leveraging a data oracleto repossess the vehicle.